...Most of the women who had the surgery in the French hospital were from French-speaking countries in Africa, though 564 had had their genitals mutilated while living in France. Reconstructive surgery has been available in France since 2004 and is covered by national health insurance. At least one U.S. doctor also does the surgery, but few patients are able to get their insurance companies to pay for it, according tothis storyin Newsweek.

In a statement, one of the study authors said she would like to see the surgery become more readily available to the women around the world who could benefit from it. She added that most of these women are unaware the surgery even exists."Women with [female genital mutilation] rarely have access to reconstructive surgery to improve their lives, and in most developed and all developing countries, surgery remains prohibitively expensive," said Beatrice Cuzin, a urologist at Edouard Herriot University Hospital in Lyon, France, and one of the study authors.And in a comment that accompanied the Lancet study, Jasmine Abdulcadir and colleagues from University Hospitals of Geneva point out, "In some countries, the national health care systems do not recognize ... clitoral reconstruction as a therapeutic procedure, classing [it] as cosmetic surgery."...